Spades Are What You’d Use to Dig a Grave

 “Whether he likes it or not, a man’s character is stripped at the poker table; if the other players read him better than he does, he has only himself to blame.  Unless he is both able and prepared to see himself as others do, flaws and all, he will be a loser in cards, as in life.” – Anthony Holden

While researching my family history, I can’t help but imagine a sort of inter-family competition between the four main contributors to my ancestry (represented by my four grandparents).  The winner is, as of yet, unclear, but at the moment, I can tell you who the “loser” is: my father’s father’s family – ironically, the family whose name I carry.  It’s not that there’s anything wrong with this family.  In fact, the mystery that makes them so challenging could potentially make them the most interesting in the long run.  Assuming, of course, that I can solve the mystery.

                In the beginning of my project, when I first talked to my grandpa about my goals, he suggested that I contact his brother, Dave.  Apparently, Dave had already done some genealogy work in the past, and so could give me a head start on that part of the family.  Optimistic, I asked him if I could look at his research, and he graciously lent me his notebook of family trees, photocopied documents, and notes.

                Not only were the lists of birth dates, death dates, and spouses extremely helpful in filling in my own family tree, but some of Dave’s notes were both interesting and excellent interview start-off points when I later talked to my grandparents.  For example, my grandpa’s father, who, by all accounts was very strict and more than a little intimidating, moonlighted as a competitive marathon dancer in the 1930s. 

                The real mystery, however, the reason why my work on this particular family line has sort of sputtered to a stop, is my grandpa’s grandpa, Michael Reichert.  Or, at least, I think his name is Michael Reichert.  Sometimes he lists it as Michael Rajchert (the Polish spelling of the name), or Micholy Reichert.  Or Nicholy Reichert.  Or Nicholas Reichert.  He was born in Poland. Or Germany, or Austria, depending on the document.  He even switched around the birth order of his children with some regularity.  All of this has made it extremely difficult to follow his historical paper trail. 

I had thought this nothing more than an unfortunate frustration, until I noticed this note written in Dave’s notebook that I didn’t really understand – something about fleeing Ohio and moving the family to Pennsylvania.  When I mentioned it to my dad, he told me about the old Reichert family rumor – that Great-great grandfather Michael (Micholy, Nicholas, whatever) murdered a man in Youngstown, Ohio over a poker game, and ran from the law, causing the family to move to Washington, Pennsylvania.

Intrigued, I wanted to learn more, but that seems to be as far as the legend goes.  On a long shot, I decided to google unsolved murders in Youngstown, Ohio, thinking there couldn’t be that many.  Unfortunately, it seems that Youngstown has a bit of a Mafia problem, and has (as a sort of cruel irony from my point of view) been nicknamed “Murdertown USA”.

How will I ever solve this mystery???

(P.S., learning about my family’s less-that-excellent history made the fact that my grandpa taught my sister and I to play poker at an early age a little less funny, and a little more concerning.)